Quality Fluke and Red-Hot Sea Bass Lead the Raritan Bay Bite

What's biting

What's next

Fluke fishing has been trending upward across the region over the past two weeks. OTW Northern New Jersey's July 16 report described keeper flounder "becoming more common from the surf to the reefs," a step up from its July 9 update, which noted anglers were still climbing out of a stretch of extreme heat and foul weather. If that trajectory holds, expect the drift-boat bite Capt Ron's has been posting out of Atlantic Highlands — quality fish mixed with plenty of shorts, and occasional 4-6 pound-class fish — to stay productive into the weekend, especially on days with a clean drift or moving current rather than the slack, no-drift conditions a few of the Capt Ron's reports flagged as tougher fishing.

Sea bass should keep carrying trips even on days fluke are picky. Blue Chip Sportfishing (NJ) has been limiting out "on almost every trip," and that kind of consistency on structure typically holds through mid-summer before easing later in the season. Anglers working bay reefs and wrecks around Sandy Hook and Raritan Bay should lean on sea bass as the fallback plan when fluke are slow to commit.

Bluefish are worth watching over the next several days. OTW Northern New Jersey's most recent report has cocktail blues working the rivers and inlets, and that pattern often pushes further into the bay as water warms through late July — worth a look on light tackle around bridges and inlet mouths on an outgoing tide.

Striped bass are the wild card. Grumpys Tackle (NJ), reporting from further down the coast, still has bass mixing in the surf on bait, and OTW Northern New Jersey notes small stripers holding with bluefish on northern beaches. That's a typical mid-summer pattern — the bulk of the migratory striper population has moved offshore to cooler water, leaving smaller resident fish inshore. Don't expect a full striper resurgence in the Bay until water temperatures ease heading into fall.

With a First Quarter moon this week, tidal swings are moderate rather than the strongest of the month — good news for boats that have been fighting hard current or no-drift days, since conditions should be more consistent for working bait naturally. No live buoy or gauge readings are available for this report, so check NOAA marine forecasts and local tide tables directly before planning a trip, particularly around the weekend.

Context

Mid-to-late July is typically peak season for Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook fluke fishing, and this year's bite lines up with that expected calendar — flatfish activity building through the month as water settles into the range summer flounder favor. The reports here track what's normal for the date: fluke improving, sea bass holding strong on structure, and striped bass thinning out inshore as the bulk of the migratory fish push to cooler offshore water, a pattern anglers see nearly every summer along this stretch of coast.

One regulatory note worth flagging: NJ Saltwater Fisherman's summary of the 2026 Atlantic bluefin tuna angling category shows adjusted recreational retention limits in effect from June 1 through December 31, 2026 — relevant context for boats running offshore out of Sandy Hook inlet during this same window, though limits are subject to change by later NOAA action, so confirm current limits before keeping a fish.

Beyond that, this week's intel doesn't include a direct year-over-year comparison for Raritan Bay specifically — none of the available reports frame this season against last year's numbers, so it isn't possible to say with confidence whether the fluke bite is running ahead of or behind a typical season, only that it's tracking normally for the calendar. OTW Northern New Jersey's back-to-back regional updates do show the bite improving week over week following a stretch of extreme heat in early July, suggesting the fishery is still building momentum rather than sitting at a seasonal peak.